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Book Review – Magic Binds

I read this (well not really, but it counts) for the Machalo Challenge – a book with non-human characters.

At this point, folks must have realized that I am very, very biased towards Ilona Andrews. I will read anything they write. Anything, even if it was just a collection of random letters that looked a zombie tap-dancing on a keyboard.
For example:

Ilona Andrews: Oh look, a cat.

Me: What genius! Such eloquence! Must give it 5 stars!

You get the idea.

So naturally, because they seem to only be able to write good stuff, this book is uproariously funny, jam=packed with action and the world is ending. It’s always ending.

While there isn’t a central mythology per se, we get a lot more of Roland and Kate’s origins, as well as some serious Russian dark magic. That stuff burns, yo. Also, I will never complain about more Roland. When all’s said and done, his character is pretty funny.

Also of major importance in the book is Kate’s out-of-control powers. Long story short, Kate is struggling with the dark side (gasp!) and spends a lot of time pulling herself from the brink of Roland-ness. But why is she struggling? I won’t spoil it for you.

As always, we have a wonderful extended cast that you want to smash together like Ken and Barbie dolls because I SHIP THEM SO HARD. And there’s more than one ship that needs sailing…Kiss! Kiss already! Get your act together, goddamit!

One thing I didn’t particularly care for was the slightly tired heroic-self-discovery-and-power-upgrade-plot. It felt a bit like Harry Potter or the Rick Riordan books, though it didn’t detract from my reading experience in any way. It’s just that, between this and Kate’s refusal to tell Curran about her dark side (why, woman, why?) the book didn’t feel as unique as the others in the series, so its 4 stars instead.